Door-operating mechanism



March 17, 1931. A. R. STOVEN 1,796,582

DOOR OPERATING MECHANI SM Original Filed Aug. 1, 192'? 2 Sheets-Sheet lMarch 17, 1931. A. R. STOVEN 1,796,582

DOOR OPERATING MECHANI SM Original ile ug- 1, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Mar. 17, 1931 ARTHUR H. STOVEN, F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTADOOR-OPERATING lvflECHANISM Application filed August 1, 1927, Serial No.209,738.

This invention relates to a door operating mechanism, and while theinvention is capable of application for opening many kinds of doors, itparticularly is designed for use as a power door operator for openingdoors of a building through which vehicles pass.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple and efficientmechanism for opening a door and for closing the same, which mechanismis conveniently arranged to be operated by a motor.

It is another object of the invention to provide door operatingmechanism of simple and efiicient structure preferably operated by i anelectric motor comprising a series of links operated by an oscillatingarm moving in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of thedoors, one of said links being pivoted about a fixed axis at somedistance from the door and at one side of said arms.

It is another object of the invention to provide a door operatingmechanism for operating double doors, or doors opening in oppositedirections, comprising a pair of arms loscillatable in oppositedirections about a common axis, a motor for oscillating said arms, alink mechanism connected to said arms, respectively, one of the links ofsaid mechanism being pivoted about a fixed axis at some distance fromthe doors and at one side of said common axis.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a door operatingmechanism for operating a folding door comprising hinged sectionsincluding an oscillating arm movable about an axis extending parallel tothe plane of the door, a link pivoted to the doors adjacent the hingedconnection of said sections, a link pivoted intermediate the ends of thelast mentioned link and to said arm, and athird link pivoted to the endof said first mentioned link and pivoted at its other end to a fixedaxis a considerable distance from the door and at one side of said firstmentioned axis, said first and last mentioned links being arranged to besubstantially in alinement perpendicular to the plane of the doors whenthe doorsare in closed position and substantially in alinement andperpen- Rcnewed May 28, 1930.

i-hese and other objects and advantages of the invention will be fullyset forth in the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to thesame parts throughout the dillerent views, and in which,

Fl 1 is a top plan view of the mechanism, the door frame being shown inhorizontal section and the doors and mechanism being shown in differentpositions in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the mechanism, a portion of thedoor frame or well. being shown in vertical section taken on the line 2E of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 a partial view in side elevation showing a switch operatingmechanism;

i is a vertical. section taken substantially on the line 41-41 of l? l;and

Fig. 5 a horizontal, section taken on the line Fi-5 of F1 at, saidsections being taken,

, s indicated by the arrows, and El be it shown on an enlarged scale.Referring to the drawings, the sides of the door frame are shown as 10,the cross member of the frame being shown as a. A pair of doors ll. and12 are shown, and while these doors may be of any desired type, in theembodiment of the invention they are illustrated as folding doors havingthe sections 1165, 11?), 12a and 126, respectively, which sections arehinged together by hinges 13. The door 11 is hing d to one side of theframe 10 by the l e 14 secured thereto swinging about the pintle 15 andthe door 12 is hinged by the hinge 16 swinging about the hinge pintle17.

l/Vhile the doors do not have to be suspended from a track, to beoperated by the mechanism of the present invention, in the embodiment ofthe invention illustrated, the doors 11 and 12 are shown as havingmembers 18 secured thereto adjacent their free edges from which 3, 4 andextend upwardly the rods or shafts 19 hav- .ing members or rollers 19aat their upper ends 10a. The members 19 are adjustably secured to thebrackets 18. Any suitable and desired form of track may be used and thesame forms no part of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention aframe 23 is provided whichwill be suspended from members 2% which preferably extend to the ceilingand from members 25 which 6X- tend upwardly toward the wall 10a and towhich they will be secured. The lrame 23 has mounted thereon an electricmotor 26, the driving shaft of which is equipped with a pulley'2? overwhich runs a belt 23 also runnin over a pulley 29 secured to a worm gearshaft 39. he shaft 30 extends into a worm wheel bracket and casing 31which is secured to frame 23 by the bolts The shaft 30 has securedthereto a worm gear 33 received in a recess in the casing 31, which wormgear meshes with a worm wheel gear 34. The gear 34: has the hub orsleeve portion 34a extending through a hub 31a of the casing 31 and saidsleev-e 3 la has secured thereto outside of the hub 31a an arm 35, saidarm being shown as secured by the set screw 35a. The gear 34 has abeveled gear 346 formed on its upper face with which meshes a pair ofbeveled pinions 36 also meshing with a beveled gear 37 disposedoppositely to gear 34?). The gear 37 is secured to a shaft 33 whichextends through the sleeve 3 164 of the gear 3% and has secured to itslower end beneath the arms 35 a similar arm 39, said arm being shown assecured to said shaft by a key ll). The shaft 38 is journaled in the topsection 316 of casing 31 and has secured thereto above said casing apair of cams 4:1. The beveled pinions 36 are journaled on the ends of amember 12 having a central hub portion 42a through which p asses theshaft The cams 41 co-operate with a yoke member 43 having an inwardlydirected arm or flange 43a adapted to be engaged by the upper of saidcams 41 having another inwardly directed arm or flange 436 on which isdisposed an adjustable screw A. adapted to be engaged by the other ofsaid cams. Arod 4:5 is secured to the yoke as and slidable in bearings16 secured to and upstanding from I the top of casing 31, said rodhaving ayoke 45a formed its other end receiving a pair of coiled springs4-7 disposed at opposite sides oi the upper end of a'switch arm 43adapted to operate asuitable three-way switch disposed in a casing 49.The switch 49 is suitably'connected to the motor 26 so that when theswitch is in one position and a certain other manually operated switchis operated, the motor will run in one direction, and when switch 49 isin its other position and the said manually operated switch is operatedthe motor will run in the opposite direction.

Arms 35 and 39 have connected to their ends, respectively, links 50 and51. The links 50 and 51 are connected at their other ends, respectively,intermediate the ends of links 52 and 53. The links 52 and 53 arepivotally connected at one end, respectively, to brackets 54 and 55which are, in turn, respectively secured to the doors 12 and 11. Whilethe point of connection of the brackets to these doors could be variedsomewhat, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, they are shownas connected to the sections 126 and 11b closely adjacent the outer edgeof said sections, The links 52 and 53, at their other ends, arepivotally connected to links 56 and 5! and the latter links areconnected at'their other ends to fixed pivots 58 and 59, respectively.The pivots 58 and 59 are secured adjacent the outer ends of the member60 illustrated as in the form of an angle bar rigidly secured totheframe 23 and extending outwardly a considerabledistance at each endthereof. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the axes of pivots 58 and 59are disposed in lines extending substantially parallel to the plane ofthe doors when in closed position.

operation, when the doors are in closed position, the mechr'iism willoccupy the posii n shown in full lines in Fig. 1. The switch a9 willthen be in the position shown in Fig. 3. The motor26 will be started byclosing a switch .(not shown) and will, through the belt 28,rotate theshaft 30. This will rotate worm gear 33 and worm wheel gear 34, thusrotating beveled gear 34?) and pinions 36. The pinions 36 will rotatebeveled gear 37 and shaft 38.

Said shaft and the sleeve 34-64 will then thus be rotated inopposite'directions and arms 35 and 39 v ill be turned. Arm 35, as shownin 1, will be turned in a counter-clockwise direction and arm 39 in aclockwise direction. As these arms turn, the links 50 and 51 are movedpul'ing on the links 52 and 53, respectively, thus opening the doorsHand 12. As the mechanism continues to move, the parts will be broughtto t is position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The sections 11a and11b and 12a and 12?) of the uoors 11 and 12 will take the position shownin dotted lines. W hen the doors are in this position the lower cam llmoves the yoke as to the right, as shown in 3, throwing switch 429 andstopping the motor The doors are thus h ld in open position. It will beseen that when the doors are in closed position the links 53 and 57 andlinks 52 and 56 are respectivel alined and extend substantially at rightangles to the plane of the doors when in closed )osition. As hemechanism starts to open the doors, there fore, the links 52and 53 arein advantageous position for a direct pull on the doors to break thesections thereof or swing thesame about-the hinges 13 and to start theopening movement. When the doors are to be closed.

another manually operated switch will be closed and the motor 26 willthen be driven in a reverse direction. This'will again swing the arms 35and 39 so that the same will oscillate back to the position shown infull lines in Fig. 1, tius moving the doors to closed position. It isseen that when the doors are in open position the links 53 and 57 aswell as links 52 and 56 are substantially alined and extendsubstantially at right angles to the plane of the folded sections 11aand 11b and 12a and 126. When the closing movement starts, therefore,the links 52 and are in advantageous positions to exert a strongleverage on the doors to close the same. The leverage decreases as thedoors approach closed postion and is at a substantial minimum as thedoors come to closed position. This will cause positive but easy closingof the doors. The doors are also brought positively but with easy motionand little force, to wide open position. The links 52 and 56 form, ineffect, a straightened toggle holding the doors locked in open or closedposition. It will be seen that the hinge pintle is set well back of theinner face of the door frame so that the door opening between the framesis entirely unobstructed when the doors are in m wide open position.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided asimple door opening and closing mechanism. The mechanism is verycompact, comprising few parts and yet operates quickly and positively.The mechanism has a high degree of utility, particularly in connectionwith garage doors, doors for fire department buildings, and otherbuildings where vehicles move frequently through the doors. The devicehas been amply demonstrated in actual practice and found to be verysuccessful and efficient.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of applieants invention, which, generallystated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects aboveset forth and in the novel parts and combinations of parts described anddefined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A door operating mechanism having in combination, a driven shaft infront of said door with its axis extending substantially parallel to thefree edge of said door, and towardwhich said door opens an arm securedto said shaft and movable in a plane substantially at right angles tosaid axis, a swinging member pivoted to a fixed axis disposedconsiderable distance in front of said door at one side of said firstmentioned axis, a member pivotally connected to said member and to saiddoor, a link connected at one end intermediate the ends of said lastmentioned member and at its other end to said arm.

2. A door operating mechanism having in combination, a. driven shaft infront of said door with the axis extending substantially parallel to thefree edge of said door, and

toward which said door opens, an arm secured to said shaft and movablein a plane substantially at right angles to said axis, a link pivotedabout a fixed axis a considerable distance in front of said door and atone side of said axis, a link pivoted at one end to said link and at itsother end to said door, and a link pivoted at one end intermediate theends of said last mentioned'link and to said arm, said first twomentioned links being disposed substantially in alinement when said dooris in closed position.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2, said first and second mentionedlinks being also substantially in alinement when said door is in openposition.

4. A door operating mechanism having in combination, a driven shaft infront of said door with its axis extending substantially parallel to thefree edge of said door, and toward which said door opens, an arm securedto said shaft and movable in a plane substantially at right angles tosaid axis, a link pivoted about a fixed axis a considerable distance infront of said door and at one side of said axis, a link pivoted at oneend of said link and at its other end to said door, and a link pivotedat one end intermediate the ends of said last mentioned link and at itsother end to said arm, said first and second men tioned links beingdisposed to extend substantially at right angles to the plane of saiddoor when said door is in closed position.

5. A door operating mechanism for operating double doors swinging inopposite directions having in combination, a frame disposed above and infront of said doors toward which they swing to open position, a motormounted on said frame, a worm gear shaft, means for driving saidshaftfrom said motor, a worm wheel gear meshing with said worm gear carryinga beveled gear, a beveled pinion meshing with said beveled gear, an armsecured to said worm wheel gear, a sec ond beveled gear at the otherside of said pinion, a shaft secured to said second beveled gear onwhich said worm wheel gear is journaled, an arm secured to said lastmentioned shaft, links pivotally connected to said arms, linksrespectively pivoted at one end to said doors and having said firstmentioned links pivotally connected intermediate the ends thereof,respectively links pivotally connected to said last mentioned links andpivotally connected at their other ends to fixed pivots disposed ateither side of said worm wheel gear axis.

6. A door operating mechanism for oper ating double doors, opening,respectively, in

opposite directions, having in combination,

arms rotatable about common axis substantially parallel to the free edgeof said doors, means for oscillating said arms in opposite directions,each arm being pivoted, respectively, to one of a pair of links, membersintermediate the ends of whicb the other ends of said links areconnected, said members being pivoted to said doors, respectively, andlinks connected to said members, respectively,

and tofixed axes disposed at each side of said Y by said motor foroscillating said arms, re-

spectively, in opposite directions, a link pivotally connected at oneend to each of said arms, a link intermediate the ends of whichsaid'last mentioned link is connected, said last mentioned link beingpivotally connected to one of said doors, a link pivotally connected tothe other end of said last mentioned link and pivotally connected at itsother end about a fixed axis disposed a considerable distance in frontof said doors and at one side ofsaid common axis.

8. A door openingand closing mechanism for a folding door comprising anarm turnable in a plane substantially at right angles to the free edgeof said door, a track above said door, a member secured adjacent thefree edge of said door movable on said track, a link pivoted to saiddoor adjacent the folding hinge thereof, a link pivoted to the other endof said link and pivoted at its other end to a fixed axis a considerabledistance from said door, a link pivoted at one end intermediate the endsof said first mentioned link and piv oted at its other end to said arm,and means for turning said arm to open and close said 7 door.

9. The structure set forth in claim 8, said first mentioned links'beingsubstantially in alinement' perpendicular to the plane of said door whensaid door'is closed.

10. The structure set forth in claim 8, said first two mentioned linksbeing substantially alined and perpendicular to the plane of said doorswhen said'latter are in open folded position.

11. A door operating mechanism having in combination, a pair of memberspivotally connected together at one end and pivotally mounted at theirother ends, respectively, to

combination, a driven shaft in front of said door with its axisextending substantially parallel to the free edge of said door, andtoward which said door opens, an arm secured to said shaftand movable ina plane substantially at right angles to axis of said shaft, a togglelink having the outer end of one link connected to said door and theouter end of its other link pivoted to a fixed axis on the same side ofsaid door as said driven shaft, and a link pivotally connected to saidarm at one end and pivotally connected at its other end intermediate theends of one of said toggle links, constructed and arranged to straightensaid toggle as said door approaches open or closed position and to breakand swing said toggle upon swinging movement of arm to open or closesaid door.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature.

ARTHUR H. STOVEN.

